Monday, August 3, 2009

Ormes Peak Training Run - July 31, 2009

The Pikes Peak Marathon Ascent is only two weeks away and my training for it has been a bit wimpy. My brother Doyle is coming up from TX and I hope I can keep up with him. I thought climbing Ormes Peak would be a good training run and felt that seeing the three "Bambi's" as I left my house was a good omen.

Here's a shot of Mt. Blodgett as I passed by on the south side. Ormes Peak is a 4.3 mile/ 3,000 foot elevation gain hike and it lies a couple miles west of Blodgett. It is 9,700 feet in elevation.

The trail going up is really nice. This little waterfall is a great spot. About 1/3 of the hike is hiking up a steep mountainside following cairns but no real trail.


Ormes Peak with Pikes Peak in the background.
Here I am with a "Big Stick", "Little Bang-bang", and my knife ("Baby").



The 360 degree view is about the same as on top of Blodgett. That's Rampart Reservoir.




Another view of Pikes Peak!





There's Mt. Blodgett at the left end of the ridge






The rock outcropping in the center of the picture on the far ridge, is called "Lone Pine" on the Pikes Peak Atlas map because of a lone pine growing on top. I came up over the ridge about a 1/2 mile to the left of it.







This water collector was built in 1931 to provide irritation and drinking water for the Mt. St. Francis tuberculosis sanitarium. Note the two pipes!








The water collector is in back and the pipes and valves are in the structure in the foreground.













No comments: